But What If I Can't Use the Digital Keyborad?

Well, I finally did it. I broke down got a Smart Phone. I sort of feel like a sell-out; doesn't getting a Smart Phone imply that I've lost a little more respect for actual human contact and genuine interaction? Will I find I've ignored important tasks, like feeding the cats or getting out of bed, because I couldn't look away from that tiny screen? Has ADD become an inevitability? 

The bottom line was, my Dumb Phone™ (or as Verizon graciously calls it, a "Basic Phone") was on its last leg. Arguably the two most important buttons on the phone (Send and Message) were busted and only 50% reliable, and if I'm going to pay for a phone it should at least take calls and send messages. 

Of course, it couldn't be as simple as walking in to the wireless phone store and asking for a salesperson's advice. No, before I could talk to someone who actually knows the products, I had to know them first. There were lists to be written! Comparison charts to create! Data to be compiled and analyzed! Then, with my little notebook of information in hand, I apprehensively made the trip out to the Verizon store. 

I was tempted to stick with what I knew: would a significant change in my cellular phone usage be a significantly good one? Even upgrading to a QWERTY keyboard on the last phone was a big step; and what would I do if I couldn't figure out how to use the new digital keyboards? But the benefits here could outweigh the costs, aka: the possibility that I'm moving further away from reality, the big benefit being apps. 

Being a Dumb Phone™ user for so long, I had little context in which to adequately judge these apps. Why do I need access to even more distractions than I already have at my fingertips? I don't even like games. However, my "research" did indicate there were apps to help me with carb counting (prescribed by my endocrinologist), meditation (prescribed by my therapist), and the things I'm already obsessed about (money management and list writing); so perhaps getting a new phone wouldn't be the end of my tiny, highly structured world. I did wind up with a Smart Phone, the Samsung Galaxy Stellar (I think), and who knows? It might even prove to be helpful...